20 Child Stars Who Tragically Died Young
These child actors had their lives cut short. For this list, we’ll be looking at the most heartbreaking instances where actors passed away at a relatively early age.
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00:00This must be where they sacrificed virgins.
00:05God, I miss Jack.
00:06Welcome to Miss Mojo.
00:08And today, we're looking at 20 child stars who tragically died young.
00:13You know, Dean, I can't help wondering if it's ever gonna get that good for me.
00:17For this list, we'll be looking at the most heartbreaking instances
00:20where actors passed away at a relatively early age.
00:24Which of these stars was your favorite?
00:26Let us know in the comments below.
00:30Kevin Clark.
00:31This young actor was excellent as rebellious drummer Freddie Jones
00:35in Richard Linklater's School of Rock.
00:37Means you're an alcoholic.
00:40Wrong.
00:41You wouldn't come to work hungover unless you're an alcoholic.
00:43Dude, you got a disease.
00:45Hmm. Hmm.
00:47What's your name?
00:48Freddie Jones.
00:49Hmm. Freddie Jones.
00:50Shut up!
00:51But regardless of how great he was, Clark ultimately decided against a career in acting.
00:56And the 2003 film remained his only credit.
00:59Fittingly, he became a professional musician instead.
01:02Unfortunately, Clark was killed in an accident in May 2021 at the age of 32.
01:08He was riding his bike in the dark morning hours when a car hit him.
01:12He was taken to the hospital afterward.
01:14But there was nothing they could do to save his life.
01:17He was living his best life, you know, as cliche as that was.
01:21He was super happy, you know, he was doing everything that he wanted to be doing.
01:24Musically, he was fulfilled.
01:27And I mean, he was just this ray of sunshine whenever he walked into a room.
01:30Matthew Garber.
01:32Basically, anyone who was around in the 60s knew the name Matthew Garber.
01:36Perhaps it's a witch.
01:38Of course not. Witches have brooms.
01:40He starred as Michael Banks in Disney's Mary Poppins,
01:44which was not only hugely successful financially,
01:47but also touched countless audiences emotionally.
01:51We better keep an eye on this one.
01:54She's tricky.
01:55She's wonderful.
01:56But this came nearly 30 years after his death.
01:59During a visit to India in 1976, the actor contracted hepatitis.
02:04Though he made it back home to England, the condition had worsened
02:07and he couldn't recover.
02:09In June 1977, at 21 years old, he passed away due to pancreatitis.
02:15Cameron Boyce.
02:17Speaking of Disney, Cameron Boyce was a very popular star of theirs.
02:21Throughout the 2010s, he starred in the Disney Channel sitcom,
02:25and the Disney Juniors, Jake and the Neverland Pirates.
02:29Perhaps most famously, he played Carlos in the Descendants movies.
02:33Ben, help me! This thing is a killer!
02:36He's gonna chase me down and rip out my throat!
02:38This is a vicious, rabid pack animal!
02:40Hey, who told you that?
02:41My mother.
02:43Cruella?
02:43She's a dog expert.
02:44The third film from the latter franchise was a posthumous release, however,
02:48as it aired in August 2019, about one month after Boyce's tragic death at 20.
02:54He suffered from epilepsy and passed away in his sleep from a seizure.
02:57Often described as an old soul, Cameron believed deeply in helping others,
03:02combining acting with activism.
03:04His family now carrying on the work he began with the Cameron Boyce Foundation.
03:09The autopsy ruled it a sudden, unexpected death in epilepsy.
03:13Dana Hill.
03:15A successful voice actress, Dana Hill played Max Goof in the 90s sitcom, Goof Troop.
03:21Man, what'd you do to get all this stuff?
03:25You got the first edition Toxic Offenders? Rad! Can I see one?
03:28The show didn't last long, airing between September and December of 1992,
03:33but she was already an established child actor,
03:36having received a Young Artist Award for the CBS movie, Fallen Angel.
03:39I love you.
03:40Oh, I love you more.
03:45We're gonna make it, together.
03:49You and me.
03:50Hill lived with type 1 diabetes,
03:52and it caused debilitating health issues throughout much of her life.
03:55In May of 1996, around the time of her 32nd birthday,
03:59she fell into a diabetic coma.
04:01She soon had a huge stroke and never recovered,
04:04passing away in July of that same year.
04:06Anissa Jones.
04:08This young girl from Indiana became a household name in the mid-60s
04:12for playing Buffy Davis on Family Affair.
04:15But I like it here with you and everybody.
04:19Buffy, do you honestly think I'd let a little girl like you
04:23go traveling around the world without me?
04:25Jones was 8 years old when audiences first saw her in the role,
04:28and she remained with the series until its conclusion in 1971.
04:32She subsequently disappeared from the spotlight
04:34and wasn't seen on television again.
04:36So she was, you know, at that natural teenage
04:39where she's railing against everything.
04:41And so when the show was over, she says,
04:43I'm not doing this anymore.
04:45And that was very tragic.
04:47In August 1976, Jones suffered a fatal overdose.
04:51She was just 18.
04:53A toxicological study later found large amounts of illicit substances in her system,
04:57including a sedative known as Cicobarbital.
05:01Jones' family sued the doctor who prescribed the drug
05:04and were awarded close to $80,000.
05:07Michelle Thomas.
05:08A popular sitcom actress,
05:10Michelle Thomas notably found success on both The Cosby Show and Family Matters.
05:16She was most recognized for her work in the latter,
05:18playing Myra Monkhouse in 55 episodes of the show.
05:22Stephen, you saved the restaurant.
05:24You're a hero.
05:25Well, hero is such an appropriate word.
05:30Well, you may have extinguished those flames,
05:32but you've only ignited mine.
05:34Shortly after the iconic series concluded,
05:37Thomas was diagnosed with a type of abdominal cancer
05:39that remains very hard to treat.
05:41The news came in August of 1997,
05:43just one month shy of her 29th birthday.
05:46Though she continued to work and had multiple surgeries,
05:49Thomas only made it another 16 months
05:51before passing away on December 23rd, 1998 at 30 years old.
05:56Anytime I mention Michelle Thomas,
05:58I just, there's a certain amount of innocence.
06:01I'm just taken back to...
06:02Rob Knox.
06:04Most people will know Rob Knox from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,
06:07in which he played Marcus Belby.
06:09For those of you who don't know,
06:11Marcus' uncle invented the wolf's mane potion.
06:13Is he working on anything new?
06:15I don't know.
06:16Maybe my dad don't get on.
06:18Probably because my dad says potions are rubbish.
06:21His only potion worth having is a stiff one at the end of the day.
06:23However, he had been working in the industry since he was 11
06:26and served as an uncredited extra in the 2004 version of King Arthur.
06:30Knox was also reportedly supposed to appear in the Deathly Hallows,
06:34but he was killed before getting the chance to do so.
06:37He and his brother Jamie were by a London bar
06:39when an armed man began intimidating Jamie.
06:41Knox, then only 18, came to his sibling's defense and was stabbed to death.
06:46For Rob to do what he did on the night of the 24th of May is,
06:52you know, I can't imagine many people doing that,
06:55but he put himself in harm's way to save his friends and his brother,
06:58and that's heroic.
07:00The attacker named Carl Bishop was sentenced to life in prison.
07:04Nikita Pearl Willigwa.
07:06In 2016, Nikita Pearl Willigwa starred in Queen of Conway,
07:11a biographical sports movie about Ugandan chess player Fiona Mutesi.
07:15She played Fiona's friend Gloria, who helped her learn and master the game.
07:19This is little man.
07:22His border is broken so he can only bump into things.
07:26Beep. Beep. Beep.
07:29This is the queen.
07:31That same year, Willigwa learned that she had a brain tumor.
07:34The film's director, Mira Nair, is said to have helped move the actress from Uganda to India
07:39so that she could seek better treatment.
07:41In chess, the small one can become the big one.
07:46That's why I like it.
07:48She fought the cancer for nearly five years,
07:50but eventually succumbed to the disease in February 2020 at the age of 15.
07:56Dana Plato.
07:58An enormous teen star, Dana Plato was most well-known
08:01for playing Kimberly Drummond on Different Strokes.
08:04I wasn't there when it happened.
08:12You weren't there?
08:14Have you kids invented something new I don't know about?
08:16She appeared in 140 episodes,
08:18and her work on that sitcom notably got her a Young Artist Award nomination.
08:22Plato also appeared in the enormously controversial Night Trap video game,
08:26which was uncommon for celebrities at the time.
08:29Hey, Sarah, where's your bedroom?
08:30Oh, it's downstairs.
08:33You know, this place seems awfully large. Do you have a big family?
08:37No, it's just my parents, my brother, and me.
08:40But you never know who might drop in.
08:41On May 7th, 1999, the 34-year-old actor was a guest in The Howard Stern Show,
08:46where she discussed her problems with substance use.
08:49She died of an overdose the following night while in Oklahoma with her boyfriend.
08:53She was eventually said to have taken her own life.
08:57Sawyer Sweetin.
08:58Between 1996 and 2005,
09:01Sawyer Sweetin starred as Jeffrey Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond.
09:05Hello, Michael. I just flew in from Cleveland.
09:11And your arms are very tired.
09:16When the show began in September 1996, he was just one year old.
09:20When it ended in May of 2005, Sweetin was 10.
09:24In other words, fans watched him grow up in real time, right in front of their eyes.
09:29But nearly 10 years later, in April 2015, Sweetin took his own life.
09:34He was less than a month away from turning 20.
09:36Many of his peers released touching statements in which they praised his kindness and talent.
09:41His TV dad, Ray Romano, said, quote,
09:44I'm shocked. He was a wonderful and sweet kid to be around.
09:47Brittany Murphy. When she was young,
09:50Brittany Murphy convinced her single mother to take the family from New Jersey to California
09:54so she could break into the entertainment industry.
09:57They went to LA in 1991,
09:59and Murphy immediately found work on the short-lived Fox sitcom Drexel's Class.
10:03She later achieved enormous fame playing Ty Frazier in Clueless.
10:07How do you like California? Man, I'm freaking.
10:11I could really use some sort of an herbal refreshment.
10:14Oh, well, we do lunch in 10 minutes.
10:16We don't have any tea, but we have Coke and stuff. No shit, you guys got Coke here?
10:21Yeah, this is America. Sadly,
10:23Murphy passed away in 2009 at the age of 32.
10:27The official cause of death given was pneumonia, anemia,
10:30and prescription substance use,
10:32and the circumstances of her passing are still shrouded in mystery.
10:35Many believe there's more to the story,
10:37including some who say mold may have played a part in her death.
10:42A certain memory that you go to when you think of her
10:45and your time spent on Clueless. Her laugh.
10:48Yeah, yeah, contagious. So sweet.
10:51So, so genuinely sweet.
10:55Lee Thompson Young. This actor initially found success on the famous Jet Jackson.
11:00Yeah, this is what the doctor ordered. Three-day weekend.
11:03Oh, yeah, I'm ready. Swimming hole tomorrow?
11:05Yeah. Oh, I'm sick. I'm working.
11:08Gonna miss you. We should hit the lake Saturday?
11:09Check. I'm sick. I'm working.
11:12Movie Saturday night? Check.
11:13On check? Night shoot.
11:15The show debuted in October 1998
11:17when Young was 14 years old.
11:19Unlike some child stars,
11:21he continued booking gigs as he got older
11:24and found a steady job on Rizzoli and Isles.
11:26But he was also struggling with mental health issues,
11:29including depression. When he didn't come to work one day,
11:32authorities made their way to his residence
11:34where they discovered he was deceased.
11:35Young had taken his own life at the age of 29
11:38and his Rizzoli and Isles character,
11:40Barry Frost, was subsequently killed off.
11:43Everyone at Rizzoli and Isles is devastated by the news
11:46of the passing of Lee Thompson Young.
11:48We are beyond heartbroken at the loss of this sweet,
11:52gentle, good-hearted, intelligent man.
11:55He was truly a member of our family.
11:57Brad Renfro. When Brad Renfro was 11 years old,
12:01he starred as Young Mark Sway
12:03in the Joel Schumacher legal thriller,
12:05The Client. God, I'm sorry I worried you.
12:09I'm glad you came. I'm not sure that I had that much choice.
12:13Mom, if you don't want me to tell him where the body is,
12:15I won't. The movie grossed over a hundred million
12:17and launched his career.
12:19He would later appear in notable motion pictures
12:21like Apt Pupil and Ghost World.
12:24Well, hello there, young employee of the Sidewinder.
12:27Look, I already told you guys I'm not going to give you a ride.
12:31What can you tell me, young man,
12:32about the various flavors of frozen yogurt?
12:35I'll be done in a minute.
12:35Can you guys just like wait outside or something?
12:37But Renfro also dealt with substance use disorder
12:40and was first arrested at just 15
12:42for possession of illicit substances.
12:44He would face numerous legal troubles throughout the 2000s,
12:47including multiple arrests for driving under the influence.
12:50He passed away from accidental drug intoxication
12:53in January 2008 at the age of 25.
12:57Heather O'Rourke. Six-time Young Award Artist nominee
13:00and one-time winner, Heather O'Rourke is best known
13:03as the little girl who wonderfully played Carol Ann Freeling
13:06in the Poltergeist movies. The series' third entry,
13:09Poltergeist 3, was released a little over four months
13:12after her untimely death in 1988.
13:15It gets lonely being away from home, doesn't it?
13:18Yeah, answer it. Pat. Pat and Bruce and Don are real nice,
13:23but I miss my mom and dad and even my brother.
13:26The young actress had been feeling sick
13:28and was taken to the hospital in the morning of February 1st
13:30as her condition worsened.
13:32She was then diagnosed with intestinal stenosis.
13:35Basically, her digestive organ had narrowed
13:37and therefore couldn't function properly.
13:39Doctors performed surgery,
13:41but O'Rourke was already in septic shock
13:43and went into cardiopulmonary arrest.
13:45She passed away at just 12 years old.
13:48She said she loved me and then she suffered cardiac arrest
13:51in the ambulance. And then they operated on her
13:56after they had her stable and they told me
13:59she had a congenital blocked intestine
14:01and had died of septic shock. Anton Yelchin.
14:05This future star was just a baby
14:07when he moved from the Soviet Union to America
14:09in September of 1989. About 12 years later,
14:12Anton Yelchin portrayed Bobby Garfield opposite
14:15Anthony Hopkins in Hearts in Atlantis.
14:17Yeah. Oh, is that how we answer the phone?
14:20Oh, hi mom. I'm sorry. I was just excited about dinner.
14:24He went on to have a very successful career in film
14:27and TV. In June 2016, the 27-year-old actor
14:31wasn't at a rehearsal as planned.
14:33So his friends decided to look for him at his home.
14:35It was there that they found Yelchin deceased,
14:38having been crushed to death by his car,
14:40pinned between a brick pillar and fence.
14:42The driverless vehicle had rolled down the steep driveway,
14:45causing the tragic accident. He was the youngest one
14:48of the crew and I almost feel like he was the wisest one.
14:52So it was a terrible loss. We're mourning.
14:56He's an irreplaceable person and the kindest person
15:01and he loved what he did. Josh Ryan Evans.
15:05The recipient of two Soap Opera Digest Awards
15:08and a Daytime Emmy nomination, Josh Ryan Evans found
15:11a claim as Timmy Lennox on Passions,
15:13a popular soap opera. Give me that page you little twit.
15:17I need it to help me figure out a way to bring charity
15:20over to the dark side. Timmy won't let you hurt charity.
15:24Evans was born with a type of dwarfism and suffered
15:26from a congenital cardiac condition.
15:28He was in the hospital getting treatment for the latter
15:30in early August 2002, but he tragically died during
15:34a procedure at the age of 20. In a bizarrely tragic
15:37coincidence, the episode of Passions in which his character
15:40Timmy dies aired on the exact same day that Evans
15:43actually passed away. On the day of his passing,
15:46Josh Ryan Evans' character Timmy also died on the soap opera
15:50Passions in an episode shot over a month ago.
15:53Jonathan Brandes. Jonathan Brandes notably brought
15:57young Bill Denbrough from it to life and he was also
16:00very successful outside of the miniseries.
16:03In fact, he was nominated for six Young Artist Awards
16:06throughout his career and won one for his performance
16:09in the NBC sci-fi program Sequest DSV.
16:13Who are you? Who are you? Lucas Wallincheck,
16:18Nathan Bridger. Lucas designed the system that allows
16:22Darwin to speak. You're kidding.
16:25You seem surprised, Captain. But his career began to slow
16:29by the late 90s and he reportedly fell into a deep
16:31depression. He turned to alcohol as a result, becoming
16:34a heavy drinker. On November 11th, 2003, at the age
16:38of 27, Brandes attempted to take his own life.
16:42He initially survived and was rushed to the hospital,
16:45but succumbed to his injuries the next day. When I hear
16:48Jonathan's recordings over and over and the amount
16:51of love that was there and that he must have been
16:56going through so much pain. Judith Barsi. The following
17:00is a very disturbing story. So take heed. Judith Barsi
17:04was an enormously successful actress who appeared
17:07in dozens of movies and TV shows throughout the 80s.
17:11She was perhaps most famous for her role as Ducky
17:13in the animated classic The Land Before Time.
17:16All right. I'm not a long neck. I'm a big mouth,
17:22but I am all alone. I am. But her father, Joseph Barsi,
17:27was an alcoholic who severely mistreated his wife
17:30and daughter. It grew so bad that young Judith broke
17:32down and protective services were called. Her mother,
17:35Maria, promised them that she was going to end things
17:38with Joseph and leave with Judith. Sadly, that never
17:41happened as Joseph killed both Maria and Judith
17:44before taking his own life. Corey Haim. One of the biggest
17:49stars of the 1980s, Corey Haim was a teen idol who
17:52often starred in movies alongside Corey Feldman.
17:55We're dedicated to a higher purpose. We're fighters
17:58for truth, justice, and the American way.
18:07Hey man, read this. Unfortunately, Haim had a difficult
18:12life being mistreated and beginning substance use
18:16at an early age. By 2001, he had reportedly been in
18:19and out of rehab 15 times. He was also broke and
18:23developed a prescription substance use disorder. In
18:26March of 2010, Haim began suffering flu-like symptoms
18:30and collapsed in the early morning hours of March
18:3210th. He later died at the hospital. It was ruled
18:35as a natural death from pneumonia exacerbated by
18:38other factors. He was 38 years old. He was doing
18:42amazing. He was nearly sick that day. He died in my
18:46arms. I knew he was nothing else, but I didn't know
18:52exactly what it was. I had to wait for the coroner's
18:54report and the autopsy. Before we continue, be sure
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19:12River Phoenix. The eldest of the famous Phoenix
19:16family, River began acting at 10 years old. He became
19:20a household name with Stand By Me, released the
19:22same month that he turned 16.
19:25Hey guys, I bet you anything that if we find him,
19:28we'll get our pictures in the paper. Yeah. Yeah,
19:30we can even be on TV. Sure. We'll be heroes. Yeah.
19:33He won further acclaim with roles in Running On
19:35Empty and My Own Private Idaho. In the final days
19:39of his life, he embarked on a substance binge with
19:41John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. On
19:44the night of October 30th, 1993, Phoenix was in
19:48LA's famous Viper Room when he began feeling sick.
19:51He made his way outside and collapsed on the
19:53sidewalk. Although he was rushed to the hospital,
19:56attempts to save him were unsuccessful. River
19:59Phoenix stumbled out of this trendy sunset night
20:02club known as the Viper Room and died of a massive
20:06drug overdose. Paramedics found him on the
20:09sidewalk. He didn't have a heartbeat, didn't have
20:12a pulse.